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APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE
Appendix, No. 8. Further:^ in a letter from the Secretary to the Government of India, dated 27th
July 1859, it is ordered that Syud Thoweynee should be informed that it recognises no
pretension on his part to be the superior or suzerain of Syud Majeed.” And again, in the
same letter, referring to the payment of forty thousand (40,000) crowns annually as the
possible basis of an amicable arrangement between the two brothers, it is added, “ But
the arrangement should not bear the character of a subsidy from a subordinate Government
to a superior one.”
6. Captain Cruttenden, who was commissioned to impart the foregoing decision to
Syud Thoweynee, in his letter (No. 3 of 1859), thus describes the effect which it produced
on that ruler, “ His being told by me, in the words of his Excellency the Governor
General that he was in no way recognised as his brother’s superior or suzerain, appeared
to cause him both pain and annoyance, as he feels that, on this point, the opinion of his-Excellency
is already formed, and that he cannot hope to see it altered after the arbitration
has been completed.” Again, “• Now that Syud Thoweynee knows the opinion of
his Excellency the Governor General as to his having no authority over his brother, he
fears that the result of any arbitration must be fatal to his ambitious views;” and again,
his two principal claims against his brother, namely, his suzerainty over him, and his
right to an annual payment, have already been decided by his Excellency.” The latter
appears to be Captain Cruttenden’s own inference from the terms of the decision which
he was ordered to communicate to the Ruler of Muscat.
7. Further, in a Resolution of the Honourable Board, dated 19th November 1859, the
following passage occurs : Syud Majeed will act wisely if he obtain a recognition of his
own rights from Syud Thoweynee, by the payment of an annual subsidy, not a tribute, of
forty thousand (40,000) crowns.”
8. The tenor of the foregoing extracts, unmodified as it is by any subsequent decision
of Government, will be sufficiently obvious to enable his Lordship in Council to appreciate
the difficulty which it has suggested to my mind, and which I venture to submit for
solution in the form of an inquiry. In attempting to carry out the instructions of Government
in this matter, am I to consider the claims of Syud Thoweynee to the sovereignty of
Zanzibar, and to the annual pay ment of tribute by his brother, as points definitively*
disposed of by^ the foregoing Resolutions of Government ? The language of those Resolutions
is, in some cases, so plain and authoritative, that I should hardly hold myself
excused for propounding such a question, were it not that the decisions conveymd thereby
may be intended to apply no further than ■pending the arbitration, and until the final award
o f the Governor General has been made.
9. His Lordship in Council will readily perceive that definite instructions on this head
are indispensably necessary for my guidance in executing the commission which has been
entrusted to me. In the former case, namely, that of the two points above named being
already decided on, the basis of an accommodation between the two brothers must be
sought for on some other ground which, on inquiry, may be deemed best calculated to
secure the jDermanent welfare of the separated States, and to prevent any future misunderstanding
between their respective rulers.
10. Government has repeatedly suggested that the payment of forty thousand (40,000)
crowns as a subsidy from Syud Majeed to Syud Thoweynee might form the basis for such
adjustment of existing difterences. Information obtained on the spot may enable me to
report favourably or otherwise on this point. At the same time, I cannot withhold
expressing my apprehensions, formed from a perusal of the past correspondence, coupled
with the opinions of several intelligent Arabs well acquainted with the affairs of the
ímámship, that unless Syud Thoweynee is guaranteed in the sovereignty of the late
Imam’s Arabian possessions, the severance of Zanzibar from Muscat will raise up a host
of competitors for the supremacy in that quarter, and be the signal for civil war in
Oman.
11. With such contingencies in prospect, it is important that I should be apprised
whether the ultimate decision of Government is likely to be influenced by these or similar
considerations ; and if not, to what extent it is prepared to afford its countenance to Syud
Thoweynee in the exercise of his sovereignty over the Arabian possessions of the late
Imam. And lastly, whether, in order to jwevent, as far as may be, the apprehended disasters
(should the severance of Zanzibar from Muscat be decided on), I may seek interviews
with the most influential chiefs, and use my best efforts, in a friendly spirit, to
ensure their future tranquillity.
12. On the other hand, if it is the design of Government that the claims of Syud
Thoweynee to the suzerainty of Zanzibar, and to the payment of tribute by his brother, the
present ruler of that island and its African dependencies, should be regarded as open
questions to be settled hereafter by the arbitrement of the Governor General, it will be
my duty to institute inquiries, and to obtain reliable opinions with regard to the succession
in the Imâmship, such as may enable his Lordship the Viceroy to decide between the
contending opinions now prevailing on that subject, and to apportion to the rival claimants
what is justly due to each.
13. It may also be practicable, by discreet and amicable conferences with the different
members of the late Imam’s family, and with the principal Arab chiefs at Muscat and
Zanzibar,
